Water-bearing household appliances of the prior art, e.g. washing machines and in particular dishwashers, are generally unlit. The disadvantage of this is that the user always requires a light source outside the appliance in order to check the load. For loading or unloading a dishwasher, for example, it must be ensured that the area where the appliance is installed has adequate lighting. On the other hand, a light source outside the appliance is also required e.g. for filling the salt dispenser which is generally located inside the washing compartment. The user of such appliances often finds it difficult to perform certain operations inside a dishwasher or washing machine, such as cleaning or filling any tanks, etc., precisely because no interior light source is provided.
Interior-lit water-bearing household appliances are already known in the prior art. DE 100 48 088 A1 claims a method for detecting the load of a dishwasher. To carry out this method, a dishwasher is used in which a light source and, opposite the light source, a photodetector are positioned in the area of the door opening inside the washing compartment in order to create a light barrier. The type of light source is not specified. In addition, this embodiment of the prior art has the disadvantage that a light curtain that is as homogeneous as possible must be generated for the light barrier to work. This means a relatively expensive light source requiring a relatively large amount of space, which has a negative effect on the loading capability of the crockery baskets. Another disadvantage of the dishwasher of DE 100 48 088 A1 is that the light sources proposed there are only designed to produce a light barrier and therefore not for lighting the washing compartment. As a preferred embodiment a rod-shaped light source is proposed, the disadvantage of this again being the relatively large amount of space required.
DE 10 2004 051 174 A1 discloses a water-bearing household appliance in which a light source is disposed outside the treatment chamber. In the context of the cited prior art, this means that the light source is disposed in the door of the appliance. This has the disadvantage that the washing compartment can only be poorly lit. Add to this the fact that, being disposed in the appliance door, the light source is located in the wet area during the washing process and it is therefore necessary to ensure that the power supply for the light source is adequately sealed, thereby resulting in more complex processing and increased costs.